Confession
by Tempest819
Summary: Set post "Baneling" but before "Broken",  Cara and Kahlan exchange words over a campfire.


Title: Confession

Author: Tempest819

Fandom: Legend of the Seeker  
Pairing: Kahlan/Cara  
Rating: PG

Summary: Set post "Baneling" but before "Broken", Cara and Kahlan exchange words over a campfire.

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Kahlan felt it before she even looked up, she knew Cara's eyes were focused on her. They were alone, sitting on opposite side of campfire, waiting for Richard and Zedd to return from their respective missions. It was at times like this that Kahlan really resented the other woman's presence.

Prior to Cara inserting herself to their group, this would have been a brief period of time that Kahlan would have had to herself. Although she cherished the company of her male companions, she had grown accustomed to having those solitary moments to collect her thoughts and decompress from the events of the day. Now her ritual had been interrupted with the addition the blonde. She let out an exasperated sigh at this realization and kicked a pebble towards the campfire.

Cara, who had been watching the brunette intently, immediately picked up on her frustration. It was all the invitation she needed.

"What's the matter, Confessor? Is having another minx in the mix putting a damper on those precious fireside chats with your beloved Seeker? You two must do a lot of talking considering your lineage won't allow for much else without some inconvenient consequences."

Kahlan met Cara's cool stare and debated internally whether she wanted to engage the other woman in a conversation that would most certainly devolve into an argument. She knew the blonde was only baiting her, trying to get a rise out of her, if for no other reason because she was bored. After all, nightfall was probably when the disgraced Sith felt most alive. Now the newly neutered warrior spent her evenings sitting around a campfire trying to entertain herself with what was available, which, usually turned out to be Kahlan. Some time had passed since Cara had joined their troupe and the brunette had hoped that, after a while, the other woman would become accustomed to their routine, and no longer need to throw nightly barbs at Kahlan when she became restless. Unfortunately that was not the case and the childish behavior continued night after night. Cara would wait until Richard and Zedd were both gone and then taunt the brunette until they returned. Usually, Kahlan would ignore the other woman as best she could, but, this night, she didn't have the reserve and her pride prompted her to offer her own snide remark.

"If I were you I wouldn't get too comfortable. Richard may find you useful now, but eventually your true colors will shine through, and then he'll want nothing to do with you."

Cara intrigued by that comment, raised her eyebrow. "Really?" And what do my true colors look like?"

Before she offered her reply, the brunette took a few seconds to really look at the other woman. At that moment the Mord Sith, bathed in the orange and yellow hues of the fire, almost looked serene. Eyes the color of crystal, high cheekbones, flawless skin, lips plump and pink; although Kahlan hated to admit it, Cara was quite striking. It was shame such beauty was wasted on someone whose mission in life had been so ugly.

Kahlan replied, "Your true colors are as dark as your leather, Cara. Blood red, because that's all you bring to the world; death and suffering."

Cara smirked at that response. She hadn't expected the other woman to respond to her prodding. She had tried many times before to engage the other woman into some verbal sparring, but her efforts usually went unanswered. This time she could see that she had her hooks in Kahlan and she was determined to reel her in.

"And you so lily white, so different from me, right? Do you want to know the real difference between the two of us?"

Kahlan snickered at her question. "Oh, I know the difference."

Cara returned the other woman's grin, "No, you don't. You think you know the difference between right and wrong, black and white, because it has been instilled in you since you were a child, but that doesn't mean you know the difference between you and me. It's not that simple, Confessor."

"Then enlighten me."

""You like to think we're different because you're dressed in white and I'm...not. That you're good and I'm evil.

Kahlan nodded her head in agreement. "Sounds about right, so far."

Cara continued, "You're a Confessor and Confessors seek the truth, yes? And what is it you think the Mord Sith serve?"

Cara slowly rose from her place on the ground and started to make her way toward the brunette on the other side the fire. Her movement was both predatory and graceful.

Kahlan, unnerved by the look in the other woman's eyes as she approached her, instinctively reached for her short swords before replying.

"Anyone with enough power to keep your agiels in working order."

"You'd like that wouldn't you, for it to be that simple so that you can proudly claim yourself as the hero and me the villain. Not that I mind the title of villain. Labels don't really mean much to me. But they always mean so much to people like you."

Kahlan shifted uncomfortably as Cara moved out of her line of sight to circle behind her. She knew what the blonde was trying to do and Kahlan refused to give her what she wanted. She attempted to remain still and tried to prevent the disquiet she felt from being communicated through her body language.

Kahlan's attempts to remain stoic were futile. Cara could see it all, the fear her words were instilling in the other woman, and it filled her with satisfaction. The Mord Sith could read emotion in another person's body language just as well as Confessors could read the truth in someone's eyes. She could sense Kahlan's fear and it only made her bolder. She stilled her movement so that she was standing directly behind the brunette. From her vantage point she could take in the magnificence of the Confessors body; her ample bosom, her modest waist, her long torso and porcelain skin. As she observed her from above, her own mind began to wander as she pondered what the Confessor would look like in a moment of rapture as the light of moon reflected off her snow white skin. Would she scream? Would she hold her breath and stifle her moans as waves of pleasure rushed through her veins?

Kahlan broke the uncomfortable silence with her reply, "People like me?"

"Yes, people like you, who only know how to define who they are by painting themselves in contrast to some dark oppressive evil, instead of defining themselves independent of anyone else and their judgments. If you did that then you would see, as clearly as I do now, that you and I, Confessor and Mord Sith, are not so different after all."

Kahlan laughed at that statement. "Now I know you're crazy."

Cara crouched down so that she was positioned directly behind Kahlan's back and leaned forward to whisper into her ear. Cara's lips intentionally grazed the other woman's skin as her words came through her throat in a delicate timber, "I am perfectly sane and more rational than you, it would seem."

Kahlan felt a chill dart through her body at the feel of Cara's breath and lips. She immediately jumped up and away from the other woman and exclaimed,

"The Confessors honor truth and light. Everything you are stands in direct opposition to that."

Cara, amused by the other woman's obvious discomfort, replied, "How?"

"How? You torture human beings until they bend to your will, until they are broken and nothing more than slaves who are anxious to do your bidding."

Cara stood up from her crouched position to meet the other woman's gaze straight on. "Bend to our will…slaves, anxious to do our bidding...does that sound familiar, Confessor?"

With that question Kahlan found herself frozen as she registered what the other woman was insinuating with her question. She shook her head in defiance, but still couldn't shirk the feeling of uncertainty Cara's words had caused. She told herself this is what the Mord Sith wanted, and that it was only a game to her, but, as the other woman started to approach her, she became trapped in her eyes.

Now standing only inches apart from the brunette, Cara broke their mutual gaze so she could rake her eyes over the rest of Kahlan's body, as if she were inspecting an object for purchase. She could see it now, the Confessor was waning.

Cara continued, "And what happens when you 'confess' someone? What happens to their free will? How many people have left their families, suffered and died, in their effort to serve you after they were confessed?

"It's not the same!"

"Why? You say you serve truth. The Mord Sith serve it as well. The manner in which we achieve that truth may be different, but the end result is the same. We tear away the facade, the mask, and reveal the truth about man."

"What truth is that?"

"That we are animals, nothing more. Most animals are just looking for a master to serve, to cling to, because they know, deep down, that they're not strong enough or good enough on their own. And so they sacrifice their autonomy for the security that comes from submitting themselves to someone stronger."

Kahlan shook her head trying to jar herself out of this moment of weakness. The Mord Sith was playing with her like a toy and she knew that. Yet, as she stared into the pools of crystal blue looking back at her, into those eyes that spoke more of empathy than deceit, she couldn't find the words to refute her. Even as the blonde reached out to cup her cheek, Kahlan remained still.

"You know it's true. You feel it every time you put your hand to some poor bastard's throat." Cara slid her hand from the brunettes check down to her throat and gently caressed the soft skin with her thumb. "Every time there is a part of you that wishes it will fail, that you will find one person who will be able to resist and annul your powers, one that will prove that the human spirit is stronger than any magic or wizardry."

Kahlan felt tears form in her eyes. "You don't know me. You're wrong."

"No, I'm not. But you want me to be wrong, because now you're beginning to see the real truth, that with a small twist fate perhaps I could have been the lady in white and you could have been wielding the agiel. We're two sides of the same coin. Look into my eyes, Kahlan. I know your fears, your doubts. I know what weighs on your heart, the burden of your bloodline, the loneliness that flows through you. I feel it too, but this is where the difference between us comes in."

"And that is?

Cara gently cupped Kahlan's face with both her hands before replying, "That your loneliness is so much heavier than mine because you look at humanity and see it for what it could be, rather than what it is. How many times have they failed you? How many times have you had to carry their burden for them because they were too weak?"

Kahlan, unable to hold back the deluge of emotions coursing through her, felt a lone tear make its way down her cheek. She closed her eyes tight, ashamed that she had let the other woman make her feel so raw.

Cara, in a moment of pure compassion that even surprised her, wiped the tear away and caressed the brunettes check with the back of her hand. The gentle gesture confused Kahlan and she opened her eyes to confirm that it was still the Mord Sith standing in front of her.

Cara continued, "I see people for the sheep they are and I've accepted that. I don't try to hold them up to the light...I let them roll around in the mud, let them get dirty. That's usually the fun part…You don't have to sit all by yourself in the clouds, Kahlan. I'm a good playmate. I know when to give and I know when to take.

With that final word Cara closed the distance between them and covered the other woman's lips with her own. The Confessors lips were sweet and Cara felt a fire start to burn under her skin as she intensified the contact. She pulled the brunette close to her at her waist and reveled in the feel of the soft flesh found there.

At first contact with the other woman's lips Kahlan remained still, but soon enough, her body gave in to the embrace. Cara's kiss was exhilarating and she became undone by the softness of the woman's lips and skin. She felt the other woman's tongue tease her lips and was about to respond when the faint sound of someone approaching their camp drew her out of her stupor. Her right hand immediately reached for the blonde's throat and clinched tight. Cara's eyes flashed open once the tender sensation of Kahlan's lips was lost and replaced with the fierce contact of the other woman's intense grip around her throat. She looked into the Confessor's eyes and saw that any vulnerability the woman had expressed moments ago had been replaced with pure fury.

Kahlan tightened her grip and warned the other woman, "Do that again and I'll show you what a Confessor really is. Stay away from me, Cara."

With those words Kahlan forcibly pushed the other woman away from her. Once free from the brunettes hold, Cara instinctively clutched her throat and rubbed the skin there. She turned her head toward to the sound of the footsteps and watched as the familiar face of the Seeker came into the light.

Richard, unaware of what had occurred between the two women while he was away, entered their campsite and dropped the spoils of his mission on one of the larger rocks near the fire. He walked up to Kahlan and pointed to his bounty at their feet.

"Couldn't catch any rabbits, but, I found a stream nearby and caught some fish."

The brunette gave him a weak smile and tapped his shoulder in gratitude.

"Thanks, Richard. I'm starving."

The Seeker, noticing her half-hearted response, was about to question the Confessor's tone when he caught sight of the Mord Sith staring blankly into the flames of the campfire. He looked back and forth between the two women and questioned internally whether something had happened while he was away. Hoping to break up the uncomfortable silence lingering between the three of them, he offered some of the bounty to the blonde.

"There's some for you too, Cara."

The blonde, still on edge from her encounter with Kahlan, gave Richard a cold stare and replied, "I've had my fill for the evening."

With that comment she stormed past the Confessor and her Seeker, bumping her shoulder into the brunette's, as she made her way into the forest.

Richard, seeing the intentional nudge, shook his head and let out a huff. "What was that about? Ya'know, getting you two to actually 'get along' is like trying to mix oil and water. Can't you both just try to be civil?"

Kahlan turned and watched as the blonde faded into the darkness of the woods. She ran her fingertips over her bottom lip and replied. "Be careful what you wish for, Richard."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Look, let it go, okay. We're just too…different."


End file.
